There's a Buzzy New Cancer Treatment That's Showing Promising Results

The immune system is your body's very own superhero: It hunts down infections and other illnesses that show up uninvited and attacks them like a boss. But every great superhero has an arch nemesis—and for your immune system, that villain is cancer. That’s because cancer cells are super-savvy at flying under the radar, outwitting your immune system at every turn. Enter immunotherapy, the new treatment that doctors hope will help us fight back against this deadly disease.

What Is Immunotherapy?
Also called biological therapy, immunotherapy acts as the immune system's trusty sidekick. Traditional therapies (think: chemo) involve chemicals that target the disease, but often damage the body along with it. Immunotherapy, though, stimulates your own body to kill the cancer. "Although immunotherapies work in a variety of ways, the premise of their success is that they train the immune system to recognize and target cancer cells, thereby sparing healthy cells," says Mark Faries, M.D., director of therapeutic immunology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in California. What makes the treatment especially exciting is that patients who respond to it may have long-term or possibly permanent remissions, says Faries. "For many of these patients, they're essentially cured—even of widely metastatic, advanced cancers," he says.

How Does It Work?
Different forms of immunotherapy are given in different ways—some can be taken orally, while several of the new drugs go directly into a vein. One newly approved drug is even injected directly into metastatic tumors, says Faries. How long your specific treatment lasts depends on the type of cancer, how advanced it is, and how your body reacts to the type of immunotherapy you receive.

"The immune system normally has a whole series of checks and balances that keep it from becoming overactive and potentially reacting to our own tissues," explains Faries. That's why it doesn't always recognize cancer cells as being harmful. Some immunotherapy drugs interfere with one of those natural brakes and give the immune system more freedom to react, which improves its ability to kill the cancer cells.

Other immunotherapy drugs can "mark" cancer cells, so they're easier for the immune system to locate and destroy. Still others can be used to deliver drugs directly to the cancer cells and annihilate them, while keeping the nearby healthy cells in tact. There are also treatment vaccines that train the immune system to recognize and target cancer cells, Balboa-style. (Take that!)

So, Are There Any Downsides?
The good news: "Almost all traditional cancer therapies are largely focused on buying time or improving quality of life, whereas immune therapies may lead to cures," says Faries. "That's a big difference." Immunotherapy treatments are a potential game-changer because they can help your immune system adapt to whatever the tumor does and stay on top of it.

Another bonus: The side effects you experience probably won't be as severe as those from traditional therapies. The most common ones are skin reactions at the needle site (swelling, redness, itchiness) and flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, nausea, sinus congestion).

But that doesn't necessarily mean you're off the hook. "One misconception is immunotherapies are non-toxic, since they use the body's own immune system," says Faries. "The immune system can produce long-lasting remissions, but also has the potential to cause significant side effects." For example, immunotherapies can cause severe—sometimes fatal—allergic reactions, according to the National Cancer Institute. (This is rare.)

And there are still quite a few kinks that need to be ironed out. For one: the cost. "As with many of the new oncology drugs, the new immunotherapy medications are remarkably expensive," says Faries. "A course of a single one of these drugs might cost over $100,000, and as they begin to be combined with other treatments, the price tag can become astronomical."

Because immunotherapy is in the newbie stage of development, the number of cancers it's been proven effective for is still pretty small. "The problem has been that only a subgroup of patients respond, and many others do not," says Faries. It's uber-difficult to sort out who will (and who won't) respond well to the treatment. If docs are eventually able to pinpoint which treatment will work for which patient, more people will benefit and costs will (hopefully) go down. Right now, the best results have been seen in melanoma and lung cancer patients. According to the American Cancer Society, smaller studies have shown some promising early results in those with colon and kidney cancers.

As more new treatments get approved, the proportion of patients responding well to immunotherapy is also increasing. And as more medications become available, the choices will become better and more targeted. "There's ongoing research that is seeking to make the benefits extend to more types of cancer," says Faries. Bring. It. On.

Krissy BradyKrissy is a regular contributor to Prevention, and she also writes for Cosmopolitan, Weight Watchers, Women's Health, FitnessMagazine.com, Self.com, and Shape.com.

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